With all of the planning and anticipation leading up to my visit with Frenchcreek out in Calgary, it was a bit surreal when my flight landed and I met Pete at the airport. We made it to the camp at Gull Lake within a few hours, and were even able to get a few hours of fishing in on the first day (the sun doesn't start to set until about 9:45 up there).

The weather was the wildcard for the trip...for the first day and a half, the lake was flat out calm and seeing the pike come up for our flies was a treat. Then Saturday and Sunday were quite windy, with heavy rain as well on Sunday. This limited our fishing a bit, but we amused ourselves by watching the hockey games, swapping stories, and hitting a local tavern.

This pike fishing was different for me; I'm used to hitting pike in relatively shallow waters, but a great number that were caught on the trip were from 6, 8, and even 10 feet of water. Using floating lines for these depths wasn't a problem because the fish were oriented to strike upwards, sometimes even as the fly was being lifted from the water for the next cast. They were beautiful fish, perfectly suited for their habitat, and I felt priveleged to be there and experience it. I have some pictures to process and will post them in the near future.

Pete was a great host, giving me a neat tour of Calgary on Sunday night before I had to leave the next day. I met wonderful people, saw tons of wildlife, and visited a part of Canada that I'd never been to before. All that, and there is still the Bow River flowing right through the city.......

Thank you Pete for a wonderful time. Give a holler if you get out this way in September, and we'll continue to discuss the true meaning of "eh"......